Dec. 18, 2022
Audio
Preservation
By E.J. Schoenborn
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Preservation
By E. J. Schoenborn
On May 18, 1980, Mount Saint Helens erupted.
Realizing he could not escape, Robert Landsburg took photos of the eruption and laid down on top of the camera to protect the photographs.
the cloud rolls down the mountain
and escape has named my cane
a flightless bird
my body is only here
for the trans youth now,
the trans fem and their hand-me-down wings,
the trans masc and zir closed wounds
if my goal is not survival
but preservation
then god
please
just tell me I succeeded
tell me their names
and I will ash
with so much joy
I only wish I could have seen them
before the blast
E.J. Schoenborn
E.J. Schoenborn (they/them) is a white queer & nonbinary trans writer and puzzle designer from rural Wisconsin, though they currently live in Minneapolis, MN. They have represented Macalester College, Minneapolis, and Minnesota at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam, and the National Poetry Slam. Their poetry has been published by Button Poetry, Defunkt Magazine, Coffee People Zine, Voicemail Poems, Freezeray Poetry, the anthology from Moon Tide Press "Dark Ink: A Poetry Anthology Inspired By Horror," and more. Their poetry has also won the Wendy Parrish Poetry Award, the Harry Scherman Poetry Award, and was nominated for the Best of the Net Poetry Anthology for two years. Their book of poetry "The Eye Opens" about gender, survival, and The Magnus Archives podcast is available from Ginger Bug Press. They have a love for florals, opossums, and horror movies, and they'd love to play an escape room with you.
You can find them on Facebook and Instagram.
Image description: A white nonbinary person wearing a black sleeveless shirt and a white skirt sits with one leg over the other on a stool in front of a soft pink background. They are wearing two pins on their shirt. One is turquoise blue with the pronouns they, them their on it. The second pin is the trans pride flag with stripes of blue, pink, and white. They're wearing a black baseball cap with a pattern of many small red & yellow flowers. On their right wrist is a red studded bracelet and a multicolored wavy wristband; their right hand rests gently under their chin as they look to the side. On their left wrist is a blue studded bracelet and another blue wristband; their left hand rests lazily on their leg. Their left upper arm has a visible tattoo of a ceramic tea cup surrounded by pink and blue flowers that says, "Forgive Yourself" in a cursive font. They are wearing an electric blue eye shadow and a dark purple lipstick with a slight beard stubble across their chin & cheeks.